McMillan — a comics journalist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and contributor to the site Cartoon Movement — was recognized for ”The Beginning of the American Fall” (her reporting on the Occupy movement) and her “Code Green” editorial cartoons that focus “exclusively on the environmental emergency.”

“The award is supposed to honor work that furthers the cause of social justice, and I’m gratified that my work is viewed that way,” McMillan tells Comic Riffs on Tuesday. “Contributing to the fight for social justice is, indeed, the reason I do the work in the first place.

“I’m also happy that the environment is seen as a social-justice issue,” McMillan continues. “The more we can connect the fight to stop the destruction of our planet with the struggle for liberation of humanity, the better chance for success we may have with both goals.”